THE police department has been facing mounting allegations of late with a section of it reportedly indulging in crimes. Drug dealing, extortion, arrest on false charges, botched-up investigations, custodial torture and killing in the guise of ‘gunfights’ are all things which a section of officers have been accused of in the recent past.
The most recent incidents of police involvement in errant activities were exposed after the killing of former army major Sinha Mohammad Rashed Khan on July 31 in Cox’s Bazar in police shooting, for which 11 cops, including then Teknaf police officer- in-charge Pradeep Kumar Das were arrested. More and more allegations have started to surface against policemen since Sinha killing in which cases were filed against cops on charges of extortion, crossfires, custodial torture, bribery and land grabbing.
Complaints against law enforcers are nothing new and police face numerous allegations. According to police headquarters data, 235 cases were filed against 357 members of the police across the country in 2019 alone. Nearly 10,000 cops faced departmental punishment in 2015. The figure was 13,503 in 2016, 14,658 in 2017 and 14,315 in 2018, the data show. Of the punished, 83 were fired in 2016, 36 in 2017 and 74 faced termination in 2018, the data showed. The accused and fired police members were lower-tier officials, mostly from constable to sub-inspectors.
It is known that major problems lie in the police recruitment, posting and transfer processes. Police mostly face ‘soft punishment’ like withdrawal from the place of posting and suspension from job even for major wrongdoings. Some of the accused officers even enjoy better posting after they have committed the crimes. Such departmental actions reinforce the belief that the police can get away with anything.
It is no secret that administrative reform in the police force is essential for getting rid of corruption and averting crime involvement of a section of force members. There must be a separate unit or department out of police influence to investigate and take action against the force members’ crimes.
The recruitment and posting processes must be freed from corruption and political pressure, or else it will be difficult to improve the situation. Supervision must exist in all instances where police are found to have committed crimes. When some police officers and members are withdrawn for offences and involvement in crimes, there must be departmental and criminal offence actions against them on merit.
